Myth: the umbilical cord wrapping around the baby’s neck in the womb or during birth is dangerous.

Fact: The umbilical cord tied in a tight knot is dangerous. The baby is breathing THROUGH the cord, not their neck. Until that first cry, the trachea is about as much use as the appendix.

Doctors and nurses don’t tell moms anymore if the cord is around the neck because they freak out. In about half of pregnancies, it was at some point. In about a fifth, the baby is born with it around the neck. The doctor simply lifts it off immediately, no harm done.

@AllyCRN: Huh, I guess I didn’t even think about the logistics of that. My ex swore up and down that his mom KNEW that something was wrong before he was born and that he OMGALMOSTDIED because the cord was wrapped around his neck and he was stuck and blue and OMGIALMOSTDIED.

Radioactive leaks are considerably more dangerous than what those in the nuclear industry want to be known. There are many myths propagated, which contain assorted lies, doublespeak and misleading half-truths, in a PR effort that is focused on “the manufacture of doubt” (adopted from the tobacco industry’s strategy).

One such myth is the “banana equivalent dose.” No amount of man-made radioactive waste can be compared to any amount of bananas eaten. Bananas have potassium which is naturally .01% radioactive, but our body has evolved with this being the case in our environment, and constantly maintains a homeostasis of potassium (that homeostasis is important for more than just preventing an overdose of radioactivity, but it does that too). Any excess potassium you eat now will be gone the next time you pee. This is good.

None of this applies to manmade radioactive waste. For example, your body doesn’t know what radioactive strontium is (it does not occur naturally on the earth’s surface) so it thinks it’s non-radioactive calcium, and it will store it in your bones. This is not good. There can be no “banana equivalent dose” of anything other than potassium. Man-made radioactive waste, such as is STILL leaking out of Fukushima, includes hundreds of different isotopes that don’t naturally occur on the earth’s surface. They are in no way like natural potassium to our bodies.

Bats don’t actually “carry” rabies. If they get the disease, they die quickly, – unlike a possum or other large mammal who can survive awhile with it. Also, less that 0.5% of bats ever contract it. Most are completely harmless (and very beneficial to the ecosystem!).

Also, vampire bats don’t “suck” blood, they make a small cut and lap it up like a cat would lap cream. They are more likely to feed off of livestock or fowl than people and drink only a little amount (a few tablespoons or so). They are the only bat that can actually walk on the ground (others just flop) and will take care of older bats, sick bats and orphaned young in their colonies. They are very small, up to about 9 cm (3.5 inches for the largest species. The huge ‘vampire bats’ you hear about (dracula anyone?) actually are not vampire bats at all, but bats that eat diets that consist of fruit, flowers or nectar only.